A second Chance
by ravenria
Summary: It was after the war. Sakura goes on traveling and meets a wounded man and nurses him to health. In thanks he brings her to his small village. There she finds someone and more than she bargained for. SasuxSaku with OC's. Please R and R
1. Chapter 1

_The Fourth Ninja War..._

_They have been fighting for days now, and the end was coming close. It was night, yet the fighting dragged on. Under the full moon, bloodied by Madara's Sharingan, the sounds of blades striking filled the cold air. Sakura was gliding through the tree in haste. She felt a sudden a strong force of colliding chakras from afar. She knew whose it were and dropped everything to go to them. _

_Naruto and Sasuke once again attacked each other head on. They were both thrown miles from the blast because of the intensity of the explosion the created. The first body, Sakura passed was Sasuke's. She knew Naruto could wait awhile-he had miraculous healing abilities after all. If anyone needed her immediately, it would be Sasuke. She rushed to him, no longer caring which side he belonged to. Sakura saw him swimming in his own blood, his body partly burnt and his eyes dripping red. She approached him and laid his head on her lap with tears falling down her eyes. "Sakura," she heard him say weakly, "you shouldn't be here," he was gaining a bit of strength as she transfered some of chakra to him to keep him alive. Sasuke reached out his hand and touched her face, "If only I could see your face one last time, but I don't want to open my eyes just to see it all teared up." In a burst of emotion, Sakura brought her lips down to his and kissed him. She rushed her energy to heal him. He was there in her arm, she did not want to loose him now._

_Much to his surprise, Sasuke found his body to be recovering instead of dying. When he had enough energy to do so, he returned her kiss without thinking. However, the moon turned another shade of red. Then they both felt it- Naruto's chakra flurry once more along with Madara's. They knew what should be done- Sasuke stood up and went to the new battle field, leaving Sakura worried for the life of her two friends._

Five years later...

Sakura had been promoted to Jounin level. She'd recieve a directive from the new Hokage- Hatake Kakashi, that she will be recieving a new team of genins next month; thus, she had requested that she be allowed a few months off before starting. She left Konoha to go traveling around the other non-shinobi countries. She wanted to see the samurai lands and she wanted to hope.

In a twist of fate, as she was journeying to the land of valleys she heard a loud wail. Sakura felt she needed to help the man in need and rushed to his side. Upon jumpind down the woods, she found a wounded man dressed in samurai armor heavily bleeding. She healed him at once, enough to get him to talk. Upon regaining consciousness, he thanked her and introduced himself.

"My name is Ryujin, thank you for saving my life." He was a handsome man, fair skined with light grey hair. Sakura could not help but blush when he smiled at her. He tried standing up but collapsed with the pain.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know who you were so I healed you only to the point of keeping you alive," she said forcing him to lye back down.

"I wouldn't blame you, I do look like a suspicious person," he smiled at her again. He was such a congenial character. Sakura made a mental note to remind herself ones again why she was traveling in the first place.

"Well, I'm pretty certain now that you're fine, so i'll be on my way now," Sakura announced as she picked up her bag and got ready to leave. As she turned around to make her steps, a hand reached out to stop her.

"Please wait a while, I'm sure my father's men will get here soon. Let me bring you home and thank you for helping me," he said pleadingly, in a way that Sakura could not refuse. She obliged him and waited with him quietly.

It was not for another hour that a group of Samurai arrived. They were frantic and exhausted. It seemed like they have been searching for Ryujin. They stood in file and kneeled down upon finding him. "Master Ryujin, forgive us for our lateness," the captain said.

"It's okay, I'm fine now. Let's just go home and make sure this lady comes with us," Ryujin said as he was placed in a stretcher by his men. He gave Sakura a wink before he was moved away.

Much to her surprise, they arrived in a large castle-fortress in the middle of the deepest valley. It was a grand castle with beautiful gardens and strong walls. She was guided to a main hall where court was apparently being held. All the men and women were dressed in formal attire, and were bowed down to the man on the throne. She was in the presence of the great Daimyo of the land of Valleys, and Ryujin happened to be his son and heir.


	2. Chapter 2

Upon arriving in the Daimyo's castle, Sakura was warmly received and given ample thanks for saving the prince's life. She was given the best accommodations and was invited to a private dinner with the Daimyo's family. By this time she had learned that Daimyo's wife had been long dead and that he cherishes the lives of the two children she had left him. One was Ryujin, the heir, and the other was his twin sister Reika. She had met the princess in court and found her to look similar to Ryujin but her disposition was far more reserved; however, there was a different air around her that Sakura felt to be disturbing. It was oddly familiar but dangerous.

While she was resting in her waiting for dinner, somebody came to the door knocking. It was the princess herself- alone without any of her ladies in waiting.

"Good evening, Princess Reika," Sakura bowed and let the princess in. The two sat down in the tatami mat across from each other and experienced a few moments of awkward silence. The princess seemed uneasy and earnest, Sakura, being unable to take the awkwardness any longer decided to ask her for her business.

"What can I do for you princess?" Sakura asked nervously.

The princess' head jerked up and shot a determined glare at her, "I heard that you saved my brother from certain death with your ninja medicine."

Sakura felt a surge of energy crawl down her spine and she felt even more uneasy, "You heard right ma'am..." she said uncomfortably.

"Please take a look at my... uhm... my..." the princess began to blush like a little girl and could not finish the sentence out of embarrassment. 'She's in love,' Sakura thought, putting the princess in a different light.

"Would this be you're boyfriend princess?" Sakura inquired teasingly.

"OH! uhm... well not really my boyfriend, not that I wouldn't want him to be..." she stuttered even more furiously.

"Sure I will princess, I'd be glad to." Sakura smiled inwardly amused at how the princess came of at the start and how she crumbled at the thought of the man she loved.

"Might I just ask what his current condition is?"

"His eyes were injured and no doctor from here can cure him."

The princess left soon after thanking her with a few hugs and kisses. A little too familiar for Sakura's taste, but still endearing. She walked to the Garden Pavillion where the Daimyo prepared dinner for her. When she arrived, she saw Ryujin seated and looking better than when she last saw him. He looked very happy to see her, and she could not help but blush ones again.

"I'm glad you could make it tonight," Ryujin said in a flirty tone.

"It's a free dinner, how can I miss?" Sakura retorted.

"My father will be down in a while and my sister and Taka should be up from the gardens in a while. Reika insisted on picking some flowers for you. She seemed to have taken a liking to you." Ryujin recounted the things Sakura missed.

Sakura recalled Reika's face earlier that evening and could not help but liken her to a little girl. Although the mood remained light and easy, she could not help but feel uncertain. The presence she could not place earlier would not leave her mind and it was getting stronger and stronger. As it grew, Sakura began to place where she had felt it before. Her heart beat faster but her blood left her face. She was pale as paper by the time she turned to face the direction where the presence was coming from. Going up the stairs was the Princess Reika with a bouquet of wild flowers in her hand and behind her was an armor clad man who looked like Sasuke.

"Sakura-san!" Reika called cheerfully, "I'd like you to meet Taka, he's the guy I told you about this evening." It took a while for Sakura to respond, as she was awestruck by all the emotions with seeing him again after all these years. She looked at him and saw how his hair had grown. It was so much like his brother's but he tied to keep it neat though he covered his face with some strands in front. His eyes were completely covered in bandages and face was expressionless- emotionless. Here she was, trapped in her mind panicking on what to do upon seeing him yet he seemed unfazed and unaffected.

"Taka?" Sakura said in an almost whisper. He bowed to her and she did the same. Ryujin then spoke to break the awkwardness.

"Sakura," he said, taking her attention and bringing her back to reality. "Reika told me that you agreed to try curing Taka's eyes."

"She did, she came to me earlier." Sakura replied trying to act as normal as she could.

"I told you before Ryujin, it is not necessary for either of you to go to such lengths," Taka spoke for the first time. His voice brought chills down Sakura's spine and she was certain- this man was no other than Sasuke.

"Please Taka, don't be like that. You're like a brother to me, it would make all of us happy if you could see again." Ryujin insisted. "I don't know if it's because you don't want to get your hopes up, but I really think that Sakura is a very talented doctor. I'd like it if you'll try one last time."

The discussion was supposed to go on, but the Daimyo had arrived and everyone was silenced. The old man, Reishin, thanked Sakura several times for saving his son and had recounted how Taka did the same ones before. I

It was recounted by the old man that he and his family had adopted Taka after finding his body bloodied and burnt floating in the river. Ryujin saw him and took him out of the river, while Reika nursed him back to health. Then, when the castle was attacked by an assasin, Taka, though still injured protected all of them when no one else could. The old Daimyo assigned Taka as Reika's guard and has treated him like another son since.

During the whole dinner, Sakura kept on observing Reika and Taka. Her heart could not help but feel betrayed and furious every time she'd see her glance at him. Though he made no real action of reciprocation, Sakura did not like it that he was so close to another woman.

After dinner, Ryujin attempted to take her around the gardens but she refused stating that she was tired and needed to retire. In her room, she remained wide awake, waiting for him to come to her.


	3. Chapter 3

It was past midnight, Sakura was still awake. She was waiting patiently, certain that he would come. When the full moon, already directly above the castle, got covered by the clouds, a black shadow of a snake came slithering into sakura's room. The cooled reptilian skin coiled around her arm and gave her a message.

_Take a walk with me_, it said.

Sakura stood up, made a clone of herself to leave in bed and stealthily made her way outside the fortress walls. It wasn't hard for a ninja of her caliber to make it pass the samurai guarding the fortress. She followed the chakra trail he left her- it was a path only she could find. It was not long before she arrived in a river bend where he was sitting by the shore waiting for her to arrive.

"So it really is you," she said in a sad longing voice, but she restrained herself from embracing him.

"Why are you here?" he asked her, "Were you looking for me again?" his question was reprimanding but not angry.

"No, this time I was not. Everyone thinks you're dead," she replied. He did not react, it was obvious that the latter was his intention.

"You like it here?" she asked him to kill the silence.

"It's a good place, no one knows me, no one knows what I've done," he answered her, much to her surprise. Perhaps he thought she deserved that much.

"Don't be ashamed of who you were. We've all forgiven you for that, and we know what you did. You've redeemed yourself enough." Sakura, with a feeling of hope, tried her luck and began approaching him from behind. She continued to speak when she saw no objection from his side, "Naruto told us everything. You helped him save us all. People believe you died giving all of us the future we enjoy today. You're not an evil man, Sasuke," Sakura kneeled down and embraced him from behind. She rested her head on his back and took in the moment. Much to her surprise, Sasuke put his head back and rested it on her head as he held the her hands wrapped round his waist.

"I can't go back Sakura, I'm too dangerous to go back," he stated after an hour or so.

"Forgive yourself Sasuke," Sakura pleaded.

"I can never wash the blood from these hands and erase the tortures I have committed," Sasuke replied, then turned around to face her. "Forget about me Sakura. It's about time you live your life without me in it." She hoped he would kiss her again, but instead stood up and left her before the sun began to rise.

When Sakura returned to her room, she found her clone removed and Ryujin sitting on her bed.

"I won't ask where you were, but I would ask if you would go into town with me?" Ryujin, Sakura suspected, knows that she is a ninja and not an ordinary one at that. She gave her consent and fixed herself up.

It was really early in the morning. The valley mist was in the air and the village was just coming to life. It was a small town, but it was vibrant in its own way. "Quaint, isn't it?" Ryujin remarked, with a serene look on his face. He was proud of himself and who he was. Sakura admired that about him. He truly was a prince to these people. Sakura knew what he was up to, but for the sake of staying longer, she humored the young man.

"It's a beautiful town you have here, a lot simpler than others but perhaps that's its charm," Sakura commented.

"I believe so, and so many talented people live here," Ryujin replied pointing to the newly opened artisan shops and store windows. "Neighboring lands, however, know how weak our forces are. We don't have a ninja village protecting us, and our samurais are but a few. That's why were in constant danger of an attack."

"When you got hurt, you were on a mission for you village?" Sakura inquired.

"I'm afraid I was, though I won't tell the nature of my business," he answered coyly, happy to have her in the conversation.

"Fair enough," she replied and ended the conversation.

By the time they got back to the castle, Ryujin had already given her a token of his supposed affection- a simple hair piece made of gold and laquer. Sakura felt wrong in accepting it, but then again she had no real reason not to.

Sakura returned to her room and rested for a while before lunch was served. This time only the princess was with her in the dinning area.

"The men won't be joining us, they're out in the woods," Reika stated when Sakura came in.

"Oh, okay then."

They both ate their food quietly, but after the dishes were cleaned Reika decided to have a little bit of conversation.

"My brother seems to have taken a liking to you," Reika stated teasingly, "It's not everyday that he takes a girl around town."

"I'm flattered princess, but I don't want to get a head of myself on this. Your brother does not deserve my vanity."

"Oh, please, Sakura-san. I don't see any objection with my brother. Unless you are already attached to another man."

Sakura smiled at her, while a slither of pain rushed in her chest. It was only that morning that her heart got broken again. "How about you princess? Is your heart attached to someone?" though she knew that the question was more to her vexation, she nonetheless asked out of sheer need.

The princess blushed immediately and began stuttering again, "Actually, uhm... I'm... well... it's a big complicated... I'm sure... he... uhm knows... but I don't..." she was blowing steam of the holes of her skull.

"You've confessed but has not heard back?" Sakura asked to put her out of her misery.

"Not really confessed, but i've shown him my preference over and over. He simple hasn't responded to me yet," a shadow of sadness came over Reika's face, but a small smile of hope remained. Sakura noted how devoted the girl was, and felt a bit jealous at her position.

"The man you like is Taka, is he not?" Sakura continued, despite herself.

Reika nodded and smiled solemnly as she looked at the floor, "I fell in love with him when my brother brought him home to us."

"But you two spend a lot of time together? Wasn't he accompanying you in the gardens last night?"

"He was, but that's part of his duties, he's my guard after all."

By the late afternoon, the men had returned and Sakura gazed at Sasuke from afar. She didn't want to leave him, especially if he has not chosen to forget her yet.


End file.
